1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a dial for a timepiece and to a timepiece.
2. Related Art
Both excellent readability for practical use and an excellent appearance for decorative purposes are needed in timepiece dials. To meet both of these needs, gold, silver, and other metals have therefore traditionally been used to manufacture timepiece dials.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Appl. Pub. JP-A-2003-239083 (particularly page 4, left column, lines 37 to 42) also teaches using plastic as the base and coating the plastic with a metal film as a means of reducing manufacturing cost and affording greater freedom molding the timepiece dials.
Adhesion between plastic and metal is generally poor. The coating therefore separates easily from the base material, and this timepiece dial therefore suffers from low durability.
In a radio-controlled timepiece or solar-powered timepiece (such as a clock with a solar cell), the timepiece dial must also be transparent to electromagnetic waves (including radio frequency signals and light). Plastic is therefore commonly used for the timepiece dial, but because plastic lacks a sense of quality, the dial is often coated with a metallic film in order to approve the appearance of the dial. As already noted, however, adhesion between plastic and metal is poor. The metal film rendered on the plastic base must also be quite thin in order to improve transmission of electromagnetic energy (including radio waves and light waves), and this degrades the overall appearance of the timepiece dial.